Overview

A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year By almost all measures, Kansas City's Central High School is just another failing inner-city school--with abysmal test scores, only one in three graduate. Cross-X is the riveting story of Central's championship debate team. As the students and their coach face formidable opponents from elite prep schools, they must also battle bureaucrats who seem maddeningly determined to hold them back, friends and family who are mired in poverty and drug addiction, and--perhaps most daunting--their own self-destructive choices. It is a gripping story about the essential nature of debate in any democratic society, and how through argument, retort, and wit, ideals survive even under the most difficult conditions.

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9780312426972

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Reviews

Forget the nerdy reputation that debate has. Instead think of a scenario as exciting as a sports game with high stakes like triumphing over racism, bad politics, and abject poverty. . . . An important, thoughtful, and provocative look at race and class in America. --The Boston Globe [Joe Miller's] enthusiasm is infections and the plot creates the suspense of a good courtroom thriller. --Entertainment Weekly Miller's mesmerizing, vivid accounts of the debates will leave you crouched in your seat, holding your breath. . . . An incredibly powerful, daringly hopeful book. --Minneapolis Star-Tribune Irresistible. --Elle Forget the nerdy reputation that debate has. Instead think of a scenario as exciting as a sports game with high stakes like triumphing over racism, bad politics, and abject poverty. . . . An important, thoughtful, and provocative look at race and class in America. The Boston Globe [Joe Miller's] enthusiasm is infections and the plot creates the suspense of a good courtroom thriller. Entertainment Weekly Miller's mesmerizing, vivid accounts of the debates will leave you crouched in your seat, holding your breath. . . . An incredibly powerful, daringly hopeful book. Minneapolis Star-Tribune Irresistible. Elle Forget the nerdy reputation that debate has. Instead think of a scenario as exciting as a sports game with high stakes like triumphing over racism, bad politics, and abject poverty. . . . An important, thoughtful, and provocative look at race and class in America. -- The Boston Globe [Joe Miller's] enthusiasm is infections and the plot creates the suspense of a good courtroom thriller. -- Entertainment Weekly Miller's mesmerizing, vivid accounts of the debates will leave you crouched in your seat, holding your breath. . . . An incredibly powerful, daringly hopeful book. -- Minneapolis Star-Tribune Irresistible. -- Elle

Forget the nerdy reputation that debate has. Instead think of a scenario as exciting as a sports game with high stakes like triumphing over racism, bad politics, and abject poverty. . . . An important, thoughtful, and provocative look at race and class in America. -- The Boston Globe <br> [Joe Miller's] enthusiasm is infections and the plot creates the suspense of a good courtroom thriller. -- Entertainment Weekly <br> Miller's mesmerizing, vivid accounts of the debates will leave you crouched in your seat, holding your breath. . . . An incredibly powerful, daringly hopeful book. -- Minneapolis Star-Tribune <br> Irresistible. -- Elle

Forget the nerdy reputation that debate has. Instead think of a scenario as exciting as a sports game with high stakes like triumphing over racism, bad politics, and abject poverty. . . . An important, thoughtful, and provocative look at race and class in America. --The Boston Globe [Joe Miller's] enthusiasm is infections and the plot creates the suspense of a good courtroom thriller. --Entertainment Weekly Miller's mesmerizing, vivid accounts of the debates will leave you crouched in your seat, holding your breath. . . . An incredibly powerful, daringly hopeful book. --Minneapolis Star-Tribune Irresistible. --Elle

Author Information

Joe Miller's writing has appeared in Popular Science, Vibe, and Poets & Writers Magazine. He lives in Kansas City, Missouri.

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